Much more surprising than Thursday’s cancellation of NHL games through Oct. 24 is news that, after three outings with Rapperswil-Jona of the Swiss-A League, Jason Spezza has yet to pick up a single point.

In a most recent 8-4 victory, the Senators star centre was not only without goal or assist but came out of it with a minus-2 rating.

Switzerland’s hockey poolies are surely scratching their heads.

“There’s still hope for me to go over then,” Chris Neil joked outside Bell Sensplex when informed of the slow start by Spezza, the NHL’s fourth-leading scorer last season.

Can you imagine Neil playing in any of those fancy European leagues? He’d be like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Insurance companies wouldn’t just be making extra cash off all the locked-out players going over to steal jobs across the pond, but those who haven’t been bumped out of work would want to be bumping up their coverage, too.

No, if Neil is going anywhere it should be New York. As one of the toughest players in the game, he needs to be standing just on the inside of a bolted door, glaring menacingly at Gary Bettman and Don Fehr the way he does at any opponent who dares to take liberties with Spezza.

There would be no cancelling games then.

“To get a deal done, you’ve got to meet and both sides have to be willing to budge,” said Neil. “Not just us giving and them taking. It’s got to be both sides. I think that’s the main priority.

“I think there’s common ground to get something done. I honestly do. It’s just a matter of locking them in the room and pounding it out.”

Instead, the heads of the league and the players’ association are being stubborn asses. They’ve blown millions by wrestling over percentages — when they choose to speak at all.

And then there’s the money their stalling has cost those who rely on jobs in and around the NHL to make ends meet, plus the countless fans they’ve completely turned off the game, perhaps forever.

For all the damage they’ve already done, both Bettman and Fehr should be relieved of their positions immediately.

But that would only begin to solve the problem.

Even though I like players infinitely more than owners, I’d side with the latter if I had to choose. And I know they’re to blame for this mess. Call me crazy, but at the end of the day I just don’t think the hired help should be receiving more of the revenues than the bosses.

While the owners will always have lots of money and the stars should already be set for life with their earnings, I’d be angry and screaming for a settlement if I was a third-or fourth-line player with a $600,000 salary and a six- or seven-year career expectancy.

They’ve just learned they’re losing one two-week pay cheque they can’t afford to lose. More will surely be burned.

“It’s frustrating for everyone,” said Neil, an established, 10-year vet who was one of only a handful of NHLers in a dwindling group that was 13 (plus one goalie) at the skate Thursday. “You’ve got all the media here everyday, trying to pick our brains about stuff … I’m fortunate I’ve got my family to go home to, it just kind of gets my mind off everything. Playing with my kids, dropping them off at the school bus, picking them up, taking them to swimming lessons … my day is pretty booked up. For that part of it, it’s been enjoyable for me to spend more time with the family.

“Obviously, I want to get back playing. I’m optimistic. I hope something does get done. Hopefully, sooner than later.”

Since they’re obviously not moving from an impasse, doesn’t it make sense for owners and players to agree on a mediator to settle this thing? Or would it be too embarrassing when one such person, while refusing to look at the books and listen to the whines, just laughed at them and said: “Isn’t 50% of $3.3 billion a year better than a bigger cut of nothing?”

Even more surprising than the cancellation of games and Spezza going pointless in Switzerland is that the NHL, owners and players alike, can be so utterly stupid.

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